“We Have To Be Lovers.”

“We what?” Gwen growled. “No way. That’s so not part of the deal. We’ve been there and done that. It didn’t work then—it sure as hell won’t work now.”

“My father’s expecting to see a devoted couple.”

Gwen froze. She had a very bad feeling. “How devoted?”

“We have to convince him it’s a love match.”

“I can’t do it.”

“Look, let’s not forget what you get in all this. You’re not doing it out of love.” He’d dealt his trump card, and they both knew it. She’d do anything to keep her house. Anything. If that meant being Declan’s radiant, devoted bride, she had to agree.

“Okay, I’ll do it.” Her voice was reduced to a whisper.

“We’d better get some practice in, then.”

The CEO’s Contract Bride
Yvonne Lindsay

www.millsandboon.co.uk

With heartfelt thanks beyond words, to my wonderful husband, children and family, for all your support and encouragement and for always standing by me and believing in my dream.

Dear Reader

When I was in primary school I met a girl who’d been “promised” to a young boy by her family. I remember being amazed that a marriage could be arranged when you were so young, and it was the fodder for many a daydream. Since then, I’ve always loved to read tales of arranged marriages and marriages of convenience, and I had a lot of fun writing this one, where I pushed together two people who really felt they ought to be apart.

The first version of this story won the Romance Writers of New Zealand 2004 Clendon Award. Back then Declan had a different name and was helping his brother out as a topless waiter when he met Gwen. The original idea came from my hairdresser who, together with a group of good friends, has ladies’ days that are catered by…you guessed it…hunky male topless waiters. Of course, that part of the story has now gone, but the incendiary attraction between Declan and Gwen still burns, as does, I hope, your enthusiasm for the Knight brothers. Watch out next for Mason and Helena’s story—available this March—for one more New Zealand Knight!

With very best wishes,

Yvonne Lindsay

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Coming Next Month

One

“Six weeks until the tender closes, mate.”

Declan Knight leaned back his office chair and grimaced at his youngest brother’s words as they echoed down the telephone line. He shot an irritated glance at his Rolex—yeah, six weeks. He could count off the seconds he had left to find the finance he needed to pull this project off.

“Don’t remind me,” he growled.

“Hey, it isn’t my fault Mum put that stipulation in her will for our trust funds. Besides, who’d have thought you’d still be one of New Zealand’s most wanted bachelors?”

Declan remained silent. He sensed Connor’s instant discomfort over the crackling line.

“Dec? I’m sorry, mate.”

“Yeah, I know.” Declan interrupted swiftly before his brother could say another word. “I gotta move on.” Move on from the reality that he hadn’t been able to save Renata, his fiancée, when she’d needed him most. For a minute he allowed her face to swirl through his memory before fading away to where he kept the past locked down—locked down with his guilt.

“So, you want to go out tonight? Have a drink maybe? Show the Auckland nightspots how to have a really good time?” Connor’s voice brought him back instantly.

“Sorry, previous engagement.” Declan scowled into the mouthpiece.

“Well, don’t sound so excited about it. What’s the occasion?”

“Steve Crenshaw’s prewedding party.”

“You’re kidding, right? Watch-the-paint-dry Steve?”

“I wish I were kidding.” The pencil Declan had been twiddling through his fingers snapped—the two pieces falling unheeded to the floor. His staid and übercautious finance manager was marrying the one woman in the world who was a constant reminder of his failure, and his deepest betrayal—Renata’s oldest and dearest friend, Gwen Jones.

“Maybe you should ask him for some tips on how to find a wife.”

Declan’s lips tweaked into a reluctant smile as he heard the suppressed laughter in his brother’s voice. “I don’t think so,” he answered.

“You’re probably right. Okay then. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Ciao, bro’.”

Declan slowly replaced the receiver. It wasn’t that he was short of women, in fact the opposite was true, but he sure as hell didn’t want to marry any of them. There wasn’t a single one who wouldn’t expect declarations of undying devotion—devotion he was incapable of giving.

He’d been there, done that. He would bear the scars forever. Losing Renata had been the hardest thing in his life. He was never going down that road again. And he wasn’t going to make promises he knew he couldn’t hold to. It just wasn’t his style, not now, not ever.

If he hadn’t had his business to pour his energies into when Renata had died he may as well have buried himself with her. In some ways he probably had, but it was a choice he’d made, and one he stuck to.

He spun out of his chair and headed for the shower in the old bathroom of the converted Art Deco building, thankful—not for the first time—that he’d kept a fully functional bathroom in the office building. It gave him no end of pride to base the administrative side of his work here—his first completed project—the one his father had said would never succeed.

The house had been in a sorry state of repair, stuck in the middle of what had once been a residential area and which had slowly been absorbed by the nearby light-industrial zone. It had been just the sort of project he’d needed to get his hands on, literally, and had given him the opportunity to showcase his talents to restore and convert historical buildings for practical as well as aesthetic means. Cavaliere Developments had come a long way from the fledgling business he’d created eight years ago—and had a long way further to go if he had any say in the matter.

As he peeled off his work clothes, bunching them into a large crumpled ball in his fists, he wondered for the hundredth time if maybe he hadn’t bitten off more than he could chew with the Sellers project. Buying the building outright wasn’t the problem, he could do that without a blip on his financial radar. But converting it to luxury apartments, reminiscent of the era the building was constructed, took serious bucks. Bucks his board of directors, now headed by his father, would never authorise.

He’d worked out a way he could do it, though, a way to skip past any potential stonewalling by the board, and had liquidated everything he owned—his house, his stock in his father’s company—everything, except his car and this building. He’d even temporarily moved in with his other brother, Mason, to minimise his expenses. But without the buffer of more funds his dream would be out of the running before he could even begin.

Declan rued, not for the first time, how easily he’d let his father take control of the board of directors when Renata died. How, in his grief, he’d let Tony Knight capitalise on his situation and take the seat of power for the one thing Declan had left that still meant anything. The old man had called most of the shots ever since. The board would never sanction taking on a loan the size he needed to make this job work.

But he had to make it work. He just had to. Somehow he’d get his hands on the money to make this dream come alive. After that, he’d resume control of his own company. It was all that mattered anymore, that and ensuring that he never laid himself open to being so weak that he’d lose control ever again.

Gwen Jones snapped her cell phone shut in frustration and drummed her fingers on the steering wheel of her car. If she couldn’t put a halt to her wedding proceedings she’d be out of more than the deposits, she’d be out of her home, too. It had been Steve’s idea to mortgage her house, and she’d reluctantly agreed, on the condition they only draw down sufficient funds to cover the wedding and some additional renovation costs on the late-nineteenth-century villa. But now he’d drawn down the lot and skipped the country. She’d never be able to cover the repayments on her own and she’d be forced to sell the only true home she’d ever known.

How could he do this to her?

Gwen flipped the phone open again and stabbed at the numbers, silently willing her maid-of-honour and hostess for tonight’s celebrations, Libby, to be off the line. But for the sixth time in a row she went straight to Libby’s answer phone, and there was no point in leaving another, even more frantic, message. Worse, there was no one answering at Cavaliere Developments. Even the cell number given in the message at Cavaliere rang unanswered before switching to the out-of-office auto service.

She raked impatient fingers through her long blond hair and tried to ignore the burning sensation in her stomach. Somehow, she had to be two places at once—but which was the most important? Cancelling her prewedding party for the forty or so friends Steve had said they couldn’t afford to invite to the wedding, and which was due to start within the hour, or telling Declan Knight that his finance manager, her fiancé, had just fled the country after clearing out Cavaliere Developments’ bank account along with her own?

There was no contest. As much as she dreaded facing him, she had to tell Declan.

She shifted gear and crawled another half metre forward, cursing once more Auckland’s southern motorway gridlock that held her helpless in its grip, and tried to console herself the Penrose exit was only a short distance away.

By the time she pulled her station wagon up at the kerb outside Cavaliere Developments’ offices the sharp burning in her stomach had intensified. She slammed her car door shut and, walking with short swift steps to the front of the building, popped an antacid from the roll in her bag.

Declan Knight hated her already, but when he heard what Steve had done…They didn’t still shoot the messenger, did they? Her stomach gave a vicious twist, wrenching a small gasp of pain from her throat. She had to pull herself together.

The sparsely designed single-storey building, so typical of houses built in New Zealand during the late twenties, loomed in front of her. The old front lawn had been converted into car parks, but some of the gardens had been kept and edged the front of the building. Standard roses and gardenias scented the summer evening air.

She forced one foot in front of the other until she reached the entrance and dragged a steadying breath deep into her lungs before pushing open the front door to the reception area.

“Hello?” She waited, one hand clutching the straps of her bag while the other settled against her stomach as if doing so could calm the galloping herd of Kaima-nawa wild horses that pranced there.

Nothing.

He had to be here. His distinctive classic Jag was still parked in the driveway that ran down the side of the house. Steve had just about bent her ear off covetously extolling the virtues of the black 1949 XK120. She could recite every statistic about the vehicle, from its butter-soft leather upholstery to the horsepower rating under the hood. The car was the perfect accessory for the man Declan Knight had become and the man Steve, she now knew, had envied with every bone in his body. With Declan’s aura of success, devilish smile, long hair and cover-model body, he was a must on every society matron’s guest list and came complete with a different woman for every day of the week.

Quite a different guy to the one Renata had so excitedly introduced her to just over eight years ago. Quite a different guy to the one who, blinded by grief, had reached for her in the awful dark days after Renata’s death, and then, with the lingering scent of their passion still in the air, had accused her of seducing him. He had cut her as effectively from his life as a surgeon removes a cancerous growth.

Her mouth flooded with bitterness at the memory. She swallowed against the sour taste and resolutely pushed the past aside. Their actions had been a complete betrayal of Renata’s memory. Thinking about it sure wouldn’t help now. The only thing she could do was fulfil the promise she’d made as Renata sliced through the rope that threatened to pull them both to their deaths—to look out for Declan where she’d failed to do so for her dead friend.

Gwen looked around the empty reception area. For a Friday it was unnaturally quiet, but, of course, instead of hanging back for an end-of-week drink, everyone was on their way to her party. Everyone except the groom. She had to get through this as quickly as possible and then let Libby know the wedding was off. Oh, Lord, today was a total nightmare with no respite within her grasp.

She popped another antacid and her heart skittered in her chest. Maybe she’d even missed Declan altogether—he could’ve taken a ride with someone else. No, not with the front door still unlocked, she rationalised.

Focus, she admonished herself, you can’t afford the luxury of falling apart now. Gwen gripped the handle of her bag and strode through the front reception and down the hallway that led to the private offices. She hesitated as she reached the office Steve had used. At the lightest touch the door swung open.

It looked so normal inside. No clue to show that the man who’d worked here until lunchtime today had been on the verge of fleeing the country, his job and his fiancée. She pulled the door shut behind her, wishing she could as effectively close the door on her troubles. She wouldn’t find the help she needed here.

Somewhere at the back of the house she heard a faucet snap closed.

“Hello? Is anyone here?” she called out.

As she reached the end of the hallway an erratic squeaking penetrated the air, as if someone was wiping a cloudy mirror with his hand. She laid her ear against the nearest door. The noise peppered the silence again with its staccato screech, setting her teeth on edge. She hesitated, her hand resting against the painted surface of the door. Should she knock?

Suddenly the door swung inwards, pulling her off balance. Wham! She crashed face first against a bare wall of male torso. She dropped her handbag in shock and her hands flung upwards to rest against a bare chest. Her senses filled with the aroma of lightly spiced, warm, damp skin, dizzying her with its subtle assault. Of their own accord, her eyes fastened to the slow rise and fall of the broad, tanned expanse of skin in front of her. To the flat brown nipples that suddenly contracted beneath her gaze.

Declan Knight. She remembered the taste of him as if it were yesterday.

Her gaze dropped swiftly over muscled contours and her breath caught in her throat. Please don’t let him be naked. A rapid sigh of relief gusted past her lips at the view of a fluffy white towel wrapped low around his hips. A tiny droplet of water followed the shadowed line of his hip and arrowed slowly downwards.

Her mouth dried.

With Herculean effort she willed her eyes to work their way up—past the well-developed pectoral muscles, up the column of a strong masculine neck, where strands of glistening black hair caressed powerful shoulders, and all the way to where they finally clashed with cold, obsidian-coloured eyes.

He still held her. The gentle clasp of his long fingers belied the burning imprint that scorched through the filmy sleeves of her blouse and contrasted against the chilled disdain in his gaze. Fingers that tightened almost painfully as he recognised just who he held.

He let go rapidly, leaving her to find her own balance. “What the hell are you doing here?”

He looked as though he wanted to get straight back into the shower stall after touching her. Heat burned a wild bloom of colour across her cheeks and anger rose swift and sharp from the pit of her belly. Her fingers curled into impotent fists at her side.

“I’m fine, thank you for asking.” Gwen reached up one hand and rubbed absently at her arm, although the movement only served to highlight the absence of his touch rather than negate it. “I need to talk to you—it’s important.”

“Go and wait out the front. I’ll be with you in a minute.”

“Right. Of course. I’ll do that then.” Gwen retrieved her handbag from by her feet and stormed back to the reception area, her heart hammering in her chest. What was wrong with her? Where was her brain? She really had to pull it together.

Slowly she counted to ten, focusing on each inward and outward breath. It was a simple strategy, and effective. One she’d perfected when she’d first arrived in New Zealand, from Italy, at nine years old—abandoned to the care of a disapproving maiden aunt by her capricious mother, who preferred her jet-set lifestyle without a child to hinder her liaisons.

“Steve’s not here.”

Gwen flinched at the sound of his voice and turned to face her nemesis. He’d obviously roughly towel-dried his hair, and although he’d dressed quickly he hadn’t taken the time to dry himself properly. The fine cotton of his dress shirt clung in patches like a second skin to his damp skin. She snapped her eyes away, drew her back up as straight as she could manage and lifted her chin to meet his penetrating regard head-on.

Despite working within the same industry, they’d managed to avoid making contact on more than a cursory social level. Even on those occasions, at company functions, they’d managed to avoid having to be polite to one another. A cursory nod of acknowledgement, a not-quite-there smile when in a group of colleagues. They’d kept their distance. Distance he was obviously equally determined to maintain.

“I know.” Her voice sounded as though it came from a stranger. Stilted, forced. Now that the time had come, the words dried up uselessly in her throat.

“So why are you here? If this is supposed to be one of those face-your-past things before you get married—”

“No! Oh, God, no. Definitely not.” How could he even think she wanted to bring that up again? The humiliating rejection after they’d futilely sought comfort in one another. She never wanted to cross that road again. Ever.

She watched as he pulled a vibrantly coloured, rolled up silk tie from his trouser pocket and threaded it underneath his collar. Gwen cleared her throat of the obstruction that threatened to choke her as she remembered just how dexterous those long fingers could be. How she’d been at their absolute mercy.

“Steve’s gone,” she blurted in an attempt to clear her mind of the sensual fog that clouded her thoughts.

“Gone? What are you talking about? We’re all supposed to be at your party in about—” he broke off to look at his watch.

“About thirty minutes.”

“So, we’ll see him there. What’s the problem?” Halfway through settling the knot of his tie at the base of his throat, his hands stilled. Her eyes still locked on his hands, Gwen stared at the slightly roughened edges of his fingers, evidence that given the opportunity he was as hands-on as any of his workers, at the graze across the knuckle on his index finger. At anything but the question in his eyes.

“Steve’s left the country.” The words tasted like charcoal in her mouth.

“Left the country?”

“With all our money. Yours and mine.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

Gwen held her ground. She only wished she was kidding. Sudden seriousness chased the derisive look from Declan’s face as his eyes raked her face for any sign of a lie.

“You’re not kidding, are you?”

She shook her head slowly. The sting of moisture pricked at the back of her eyes and she pressed her lips into a firm line, blinking back the urge to let loose her fears.

“When? How?”

“He left a message on my cell. I was working in the Clevedon Valley—there’s no reception—he knew I wouldn’t get the call until I came out of the black spot. By then it was too late to stop him.”

“You’re saying he rang to tell you this? Why would he do that?”

Steve’s gloating satisfaction replayed in her mind. She’d never forget that tone in his voice, the absolute glee that he’d gotten away with it combined with the fact that he’d known all along there’d been something between her and Declan in the past. He’d found a way to hurt them both. The man he’d most wanted to be and the woman he’d thought Declan still wanted. But he’d been wrong. Totally wrong.

“Does it matter why he did it? The fact is he did. He’s cleaned us both out!” Her hands twisted the strap of her handbag. Round and round until it resembled a piece of rag caught in a drill bit at high speed.

Declan swore under his breath and booted up the computer at the front desk. His fingers flew over the keyboard as he logged onto his bank’s Internet service, then stilled as the reality sunk in.

“I’m gonna kill the bastard.” His voice low, feral.

“Well, take a number and stand in line. You’d better call the police. If you’ll excuse me, I have a party to stop and a wedding to cancel.” She pivoted on her heels and walked back out the door, half expecting any minute for him to call out to her to stop. To say something, anything. But he didn’t.

Minutes later, fighting to control the anger that surged and swirled inside him, Declan hung up the phone from the police. There was little that could be done right now. He’d visit the station first thing in the morning.

He drummed his fingers on the desk, selecting and discarding ideas as to what to do next. Steve Crenshaw had single-handedly dealt the blow that could devastate Cavaliere Developments and put his entire staff out of work. Informing his board of directors would be the logical thing to do; no doubt the police would want to speak to them, too, once he’d formalised his statement.

He slammed his hands flat on the desk. Damn! To be so close, to be on the verge of success and have it all snatched away. That Gwen Jones had been the bearer of these particular bad tidings should have struck him as cruelly ironic. She was synonymous with everything that had gone wrong in his life in the past eight years.

It disturbed him a great deal more than he wanted to admit, seeing her so up close and personal just now—and to his absolute disgust his reaction hadn’t been entirely emotional. All along, while Steve had crowed about his forthcoming nuptials he’d pushed away the thought of the other man’s hands against Gwen’s alabaster skin. But Declan had no claim on her—nor did he want one.

Still, her vulnerability struck him square in the solar plexus. She was as much a victim in this as him. More, in fact. She’d been on the verge of marrying the creep in eight days time. What did that say about her taste in men?

A flicker of an idea hovered on the periphery of his mind, then flamed to full-blown life. He’d be nuts to even consider it—but maybe that’s exactly why it would work.

Despite everything, he would help Gwen Jones.

And whether she realized it now, or not, she would help him, too.

Gwen parked her station wagon in the secured basement parking allocated to Libby’s waterfront apartment, then rode the lift to her floor. Outside the apartment the pain in Gwen’s stomach wound up another notch. Judging by the racket on the other side of the door Libby hadn’t had time to cancel the party—if she’d even retrieved Gwen’s message by now. Gwen swiftly depressed the doorbell and turned away, forcing herself to take in a deep, steadying breath. The outlook through the massive window at the end of the corridor, over Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour, usually had a calming effect on her, but tonight the city view glittered like tears reflected on the inky harbour, doing nothing to soothe her splintered thoughts.

“Gwen! Where the hell have you been?” Libby’s voice penetrated the worry that encapsulated her brain. “And where’s Steve?” she whispered, grabbing Gwen by the arm and dragging her inside.

“Libby, didn’t you get my message? I need to talk to you. In private.”

“Private? Sorry, chickie, but there’s no privacy here.” She threw out a hand to encompass the seething throng of guests.

“No, Libby. I mean it. We have to talk.” She grabbed hold of Libby’s arm, but the other woman slipped from her grasp.

“There’s the door again, I’ll be back in a minute. Here,” she grabbed a glass of champagne from a tray full of filled glasses on the sideboard and pushed it into Gwen’s hand. “Wrap yourself around this while I see who it is. Maybe it’s Steve.”

Gwen put out a hand to stop her friend, but it was useless. Libby was on a roll and nothing short of a three-foot-thick plate of steel would halt her in full stride.

People pressed around. Many, colleagues of Steve’s—some, her own clients she’d grown to like and respect. All of whom were oblivious to her turmoil and none of whom she knew well enough to slit an emotional vein and pour her news to, except Libby. Gwen scanned the room, nervously waiting for her friend to return. The babble of conversations seethed around her until she thought she would scream.

“Hey, everybody, look who’s arrived!” Libby shouted above the crowd.

Heads turned, Gwen’s included, as Declan was ushered into the room. His eyes searched the sea of heads, and Gwen pressed herself against the wall, as if she could make herself invisible by blending into the paintwork. Too late. He found her. He dropped a kiss on Libby’s cheek and, with one of his killer smiles firmly on his face, started to work his way through the room, heading straight in her direction. People parted before him, like the Red Sea.

“Everyone, can I have your attention, please?” Libby’s voice again rang out. Voices slowly stopped midconversation and all heads turned. “One of our guests of honour is here at last. The other’s obviously running late, but in the meantime I’d like you all to charge your glasses in a toast to my favourite buddy and our bride-to-be.”

Gwen felt the room tilt slightly as a sudden flurry of activity saw glasses rapidly being refilled in preparation for a toast. “No-o-o.” The strangled protest was lost in the babble of noise around her.

Declan saw tension paint stark lines of fear on Gwen’s face. His stomach tightened in a knot. He wasn’t too late. Clearly Libby didn’t know about Steve’s desertion—yet.

A raised hand from Libby, obviously relishing playing hostess, drew the assembly to quiet again. “Now I know some of you haven’t seen Gwen in a while, and I’m sure she joins me in thanking you for celebrating with us.” She turned and bestowed a beaming, loving smile at her pale-faced friend. “Please, everyone, raise your glasses to Gwen. May you have many, many happy years.”

“To Gwen!” Voices echoed all around her and multiple clinks of crystal repeated throughout the room. Declan watched as the remaining colour leached from Gwen’s face, leaving it ghostly pale. She swayed slightly on legs that appeared to have become too weak to bear her slender frame.

An instinctive surge of protection billowed through him. He pressed forward, determined to reach her side before she collapsed. As his arm slipped around her waist a shout penetrated the air.

“So, where’s your lucky man, Gwen?”

The tightly wound tension in her body transferred itself to him as all eyes swivelled to Gwen, who right now looked nothing like a radiant bride-to-be should. Sheer terror flew across her face, her colourless lips incapable of moving. The growing silence around them hung in the air like a fully charged rocket about to be launched.

As if suddenly aware of his presence she turned slightly towards Declan. Her eyes locked onto his, their shimmering grey depths reflecting a fierce combination of fear, distress and barely veiled entreaty.

Electricity curled through him, until he felt as though he crackled with unearthed energy. This was his opportunity. Decisively, he linked his free hand through the cold trembling fingers of hers. He drew them to his lips and brushed a kiss across the whitened knuckles.

His eyes still locked with hers, he pitched his voice to ring through the room.

“I’m right here.”

Two

With only three short syllables Gwen was trapped in a nightmare that had grown to gargantuan proportions.

In shocking, sudden silence lipsticked mouths dropped open, eyebrows shot into hairlines and glasses of champagne raised in a toast remained clutched in hands still poised in the air. In the surreal atmosphere, all eyes turned to the tall, commanding presence of the man whose impossible response still reverberated through the room.

A bone-deep chill invaded Gwen’s body and held her as still as a marble statue. This couldn’t be happening. Not to her. She could get out of this. Surely all she had to do was laugh it off as a clever joke. Except she’d never felt less like laughing in her whole life.

The sureness of Declan’s strong arm hooked around her waist sent warmth spreading through her body.

The sound of a single set of hands applauding drew Gwen’s eyes to her friend Libby. Nice surprise, her friend mouthed silently, a grin spread across her face as wide as the Auckland Harbour Bridge. One by one, each of the guests joined in until cries of congratulations filled the room. People thronged around them, eager to pass on good wishes to the ‘happy’ couple. All the while Gwen kept a smile pasted to her face, leaving Declan to bear the brunt of the questions.

At some time, in the crush of perfumed bodies, he let go of her hand. Despite herself, she couldn’t help but feel lost. Seeking out her friend, she found Libby leaning against the back wall of the room, a self-satisfied smile painted on her face.

“Well, you’re a dark horse. Fancy not telling me!”

“I tried to talk to you when I got here. But, Libby, it’s not what you think—”

“Whatever, Gwen. I’m thrilled to bits for you, but what about Steve? How did he take the news?”

“He…I…”

“He’s taken an extended leave of absence,” Declan interrupted, arriving like a dark shadow on Gwen’s horizon. “We’re sorry to have broken the news to you like this, Libby. We’d hoped to tell you sooner, hadn’t we, hon?”

His eyes shot Gwen a dark challenge, underlying the steel in his voice, which warned her to agree, before he tucked her back against his side. Awareness of him, of every breath he took, seared through her thin clothing.

“Sometimes you absolutely know when it’s right,” he continued smoothly. “Besides, we’ve known each other for years and now we have the rest of our lives to find everything out about one another. Don’t we?” He prompted her with a squeeze.

Gwen’s mouth dried. He wasn’t serious. He couldn’t be. He could barely stand to be in the same room as her, yet now he’d become her latest fashion accessory. His strong fingers increased their pressure under her rib cage, reminding her she had to make a response. She swallowed, trying to moisten her throat and allow the words that were trapped inside to come out.

“Y-yes.” Good Lord! Was that her voice?

A tiny frown creased between Libby’s eyebrows. “Gwen? Are you certain you’re doing the right thing?”

Gwen drew in a deep breath. “Yes.”

Thank goodness. Her voice was stronger now. More definite, although she’d never felt more adrift in her entire life.

Declan dipped his head to her temple. “Good move.” His warm lips moved intimately against her skin. To anyone in the room it looked like a caress.

“If you’re certain…” Libby’s voice trailed away, doubt still clear in her tone.

“We’ve never been more certain of anything in our lives.” Declan’s voice resonated confidence. “Do you mind if we have a moment together, in private? You will excuse us, won’t you?”

“Certainly. Why don’t you use my bedroom?” Libby offered generously—too generously in Gwen’s opinion.

“No!” Gwen’s voice shot like a bullet. “I mean, the balcony will do fine. No one will bother us out there.”

The last thing she needed was to be in a bedroom with Declan Knight. She pulled free of his clasp, once again struck by an inane sense of loss, and stumbled slightly as the heel of her strappy sandal hooked on the thickly carpeted floor. A strong grip at her elbow steadied her. Did he have to be so constantly close he could touch her?

“Okay?” He reached past her to open the glass slider that led onto the semicircular balcony.

“I’m fine. At least, I will be once we sort this mess out.”

She turned, freeing herself from his hold and tried to ignore the glow of challenge that lit his eyes at her action. A glow that was doing funny things to her sensitive stomach. More indigestion, she decided. Except this felt different. It was a fire in her belly all right, but this burn was molten, enticing and as forbidden as it had been eight years ago.

Declan slid the door closed behind them, the double-glazed floor-to-ceiling windows cutting out almost all sound from inside. Marooned on a dark island, the shimmer of lights reflected across the harbour.

“What do you want to sort out first?” He crossed his arms over the broad expanse of his chest and leaned back against the waist-high concrete wall that scalloped the balcony. Backlit by the streetlights behind him, he towered there, large and powerful. His dark head haloed like some fallen angel.

“Our engagement for one thing. What the heck are you playing at? I don’t want to marry you and I know for certain you don’t want to marry me, either.”

“You’re right. But the way I see it, it’s the perfect solution to our problems.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. How on earth could our marriage be a solution to anything? We’ve barely even spoken since Renata died.” Spoken? No. But they had done so much more.

“This has nothing to do with Renata.” He bit the words out. She could see the tension drawn on his face, the hardening of his jaw. “Smile.”

“What?” Had he lost his mind?

“Smile. Everyone inside can see us and we’ve just announced our engagement. They expect you to look happy, not as if you’d like to tip me over this balcony.”

“Don’t tempt me,” she answered, her voice low and angry. The thought had sudden appeal, but instead of seeing Declan tumbling from the balcony all she had was a vivid memory of Renata’s body tumbling past her on the rock face that had almost sent them both to their doom. No, she couldn’t joke about that, not even for a minute. Gwen forced her lips into an approximation of a smile.

“That’s better.” Declan’s voice rumbled through the dark night air. “Now come over here and put your arms around me.”

“No way.” A chill shivered over her arms, raising goose bumps on her flesh, belying the warmth of the balmy humid evening.

“Then I’ll come over to you.”

Before she could protest Declan covered the short distance between them, draped her limp arms around his waist and linked his own around hers.

“There now, that didn’t hurt a bit.”

Hurt? Maybe not in the physical sense, but there was an ache deep down inside her that had been her constant companion for longer than she wanted to acknowledge. A pain that couldn’t be assuaged and had taken eight years to learn to ignore. Damn him for opening that wound again.

“So, are you happy now?” Her words dropped bitterly from her lips.

“Hardly. This is all for show. If we’re going to make this work we have to look the part.”

“Make it work? I haven’t even agreed to this charade. In case you hadn’t already noticed I’m supposed to be engaged to Steve,” she snapped. His arms were warm bands around her, his fingers stroking in lazy circles against the small of her back. Gwen forced herself to listen to him and to ignore the spirals of pleasure that radiated traitorously from his touch.

“I believe that could be disputed, considering he’s abandoned you to face the wedding without him. Besides, you’re not exactly heartbroken he’s gone. Angry at him, for sure. He’s cleaned you out. But heartbroken? I doubt it.”

Gwen flinched as the truth in his words cut her to her core. Yes, Steve had abandoned her, but worse, Declan was right. With Steve she’d thought she could be safe. After all, wasn’t that what had attracted her to him in the first place? No crazy emotions living on the surface of their life. No wild declarations of burning passion. He’d been a biddable man. Someone she could rely on, or so she’d thought. A man who would be a reliable father and a supportive partner. A man who sounds about as exciting as a well-made foundation garment, a little voice taunted from the back of her mind.

Gwen gathered what was left of her dignity. “Look, I’ll tell Libby the truth when everyone is gone. She’ll help me call around, cancel the wedding. It was only going to be small. It won’t take long.”

A vise clamped around her chest. What the heck was she going to do then? Thanks to Steve, she didn’t even have enough left in her account to buy groceries—let alone meet the demands of the loan now secured against the house that had been part of her family for generations. A swell of nausea rocked her. She was going to lose her home—her one bastion of security since the day her mother had shucked her off like last year’s fashion.

Declan interrupted her misery. “So don’t cancel.”

Gwen reached deep to draw the courage she needed to answer him. “Give me one good reason why I should want to pretend to be engaged to you.”

“There’s no pretend about it. We will get married. Under New Zealand law we have just enough time to make your original wedding date, too.”

“Did you slip and bang your head or something?” Gwen leaned back slightly, deliberately ignoring the contact of her hips against his lower body, and looked hard in his eyes. “There’s no way I’m marrying you.”

“Yes, you are. Look, it’s certainly not my idea of the ideal solution, either, but right now it’s the only way you’re going to get your money back. As your husband, I can make sure of that.”

Gwen was lost for words. Even though the reality of Steve’s defection had only just begun to sink in, some glimmer of hope still clung to the thought that she’d get the money back from him, somehow.

“The way I see it,” Declan continued, “we both stand to benefit from a wedding.”

“No—”

“Hear me out. Once Crenshaw’s found, I will find a way to get the money back, you can count on it. But in the meantime his actions have put me in a very difficult position. You’ve heard about the Sellers tender?”

Gwen nodded. She’d more than heard about it. She’d been eagerly awaiting the outcome of the sale tender for the Art Deco hotel in the hope it would be redeveloped in keeping with its distinctive history. Then she could put in a proposal of her own to subcontract to the successful company. With her expertise in the restoration of old furnishings, and her skill in sourcing the materials required to redecorate to suit the period of the properties she’d worked on, she was in high demand. But a contract like the Sellers Hotel—that would launch her into an entirely new sphere altogether.

“I’ve put a bid together to purchase the property, but no thanks to Steve’s creative accounting I’ll have to withdraw from the tender unless I have the funds to continue the development—unless I can get my hands on a hefty sum of money. Now, I have that money at my disposal, but the only way I can access it is to marry. And that’s where you come in.” He dipped his head closer to hers, his dark eyes boring into her own. For all intents and purposes, to the guests whose buzz of conversation filtered in muffled snatches through the glass door to the balcony, they looked like a couple in love. The length of his legs seared through the fabric of her skirt. The outline of his muscled thighs and the weight of his hips pressed against her. Logic demanded she pull back, loose herself from his grasp and denounce his crazy idea for the fraud it was. To get the wild beat of her heart back under control.

“You have to marry? That’s archaic,” Gwen protested.

“It’s the way it is. My mother was a traditionalist and wanted to see all her boys settled before accessing our trust funds.”

A trust fund he’d already have had access to if she hadn’t let Renata talk her into attempting that cliff face when it was way beyond Gwen’s experience. But she couldn’t let her guilt at Renata’s death drive her into making yet another mistake. “And how would this advantage me? All I can see is a win-win for you here. Getting married isn’t just something you do to access a trust fund, for goodness sakes! No, it’s too important. I can’t—I won’t do it.”

“I’ll repay the money Steve stole from you.”

Gwen pulled out of his arms and walked across the balcony until she could go no farther from him. Declan felt the loss of her form against his body as if she’d been carved from him. As much as he denied it, they fit well together. Too well. In the evening darkness he studied her face carefully, watching as emotions chased across its surface until an implacable calm replaced the confusion. “C’mon, Gwen. What do you say?”

“I don’t want to do this.”

“It’s gone beyond what we want to do, Crenshaw’s seen to that. We need to make a decision, Gwen. Tonight.”

“Why do we have to do all this? Why can’t you just take out a business loan?” Light from a streetlamp caressed her white-blond hair and silhouetted her slender shape against the darkness like a sculptor’s loving touch.

“Because I wouldn’t get the loan.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Cavaliere Developments is one of the most successful and fastest-growing companies in the industry. Even I know that.”

Declan clenched his fists at his sides, then released his fingers, one by one. He had to convince Gwen, and the only way out was the truth, no matter how much it hurt. “When Renata died I had to keep busy, keep moving, keep working. I didn’t have the necessary capital then to expand at the rate I wanted to for the company to gain a foothold in the marketplace, nor did I want to spend the time I needed on the business end of things. All I wanted was to be so dog tired by the end of each day that I couldn’t even think any more.” He rubbed a hand across his eyes. The pain of that time still as raw in his memory as the day he’d laid Renata’s broken body to rest. He drew in a ragged breath and pressed on. “The old man stepped in, offered to act as guarantor for me and help run things from the administration side, if I gave him a voting position on the board. It was only supposed to be for a limited time.”

“I don’t understand. Why would that stop your company from getting the contract?” Gwen’s question hung in the air, her confusion evident in her tone.

“Because he’s already made it clear he’ll veto any application for funds for a project this size. He likes to control people. He likes to think he can control me.”

“And if you have the trust fund?” she prompted.

“I can bankroll the whole project myself.” Please don’t let her say no.

“I see. I imagine there are a lot of jobs riding on this, too.”

“Yes, there are.”

Her shoulders sagged as if all the air had been drawn out of her.

“All right.” Her reply was a mere ripple of sound in the night air.

“You’ll do it?” Hope leaped in his chest.

“Yes, but only on certain conditions.”

“What sort of conditions?”

She paced the width of the balcony before coming to a halt in front of him again. “You contract me to work on the Sellers building for the duration of the refit.”

He could live with that. In fact he was more than happy with the agreement. She’d made her mark in domestic restorations but with her skill she could only benefit his operation. Despite how he felt about Gwen, he was enough of a businessman to recognise an advantage when he saw it.

“Done. We’ll sort out the nuts and bolts of your contract with Connor tomorrow and get this tied up legally. Don’t worry about him knowing, he can be trusted to keep our arrangement confidential. Anything else?”

“No sex.”

Declan arched one eyebrow. “Do you mean with anybody else, or just with each other?”

“With anybody. I mean it,” she reiterated fiercely, wrapping her arms about her body like armour. “Absolutely no sex. I won’t be made a fool of. If this marriage is to look real, then you can’t see anyone else.”

Yeah, well, he could live with that, too. In fact, he was more than happy to live with that. The one time…no, it didn’t bear thinking about. It was enough that she had agreed to go along with this crazy scheme. “Fine by me. But we have to look like a married couple when we’re around other people, be comfortable together, you know—physically. Especially around the rest of my family. They might accept this sudden engagement, but they’ll suspect a sham if we don’t behave like a newly wed couple, and if my dad suspects a sham, I can kiss that trust fund goodbye.”

“Won’t they ask questions anyway?”

“Probably. But that’s my problem. I’ll handle it.” He sighed. “Anything else?”

“About the financial terms of the contract…”

Declan had had enough. “It’ll be worth your while—I promise.”

“It had better be.” Her eyes were opaque pools of emptiness. What was going on in that head of hers?

“It’s a deal, then?” He had to be certain she wasn’t going to back out of this.

“One more thing.”

He bit back an expletive. She had him between a rock and a hard place, and he hated it. Hated being beholden to her. “What is it?” Amazingly the words sounded civil.

“The length of our marriage—three months, tops.”

“Three months! That’s ridiculous. Twelve or my father will definitely smell a rat.”

“That’s far too long. Six, then.”

“Six months?” Declan considered it for a moment—that would work, just. He nodded sharply.

Gwen extended her hand to him and he took it, noting this was the first time she’d voluntarily reached out and touched him, tonight anyway. Laughter from inside penetrated the glass, reminding him they were in full view of the party going on inside. He turned her hand slightly, noting the tracery of blue veins beneath the silver-pale skin at her wrist. He bent forward and lifted her wrist to his lips, pressing them against satin skin where her pulse beat frantically, like a captured butterfly. She clearly wasn’t as unmoved as she tried to project.

“Just keeping up appearances,” he smiled grimly when she yanked her hand away as though his touch had burned her. “Oh, and Gwen?”

“What?”

“Thank you. You won’t regret it.”

“Regret it?” Gwen gave a sharp laugh as she turned to go inside. “I already do.”

Three

“Well, this certainly is an interesting turn of events.” Libby spoke from behind, her voice making Gwen jump. She needed to get a grip on these jitters. She was as skittish as a first time buyer at an auction.

“Don’t tease, Libby, it isn’t kind.”

“So, come on, how long has this been going on?” her friend drawled with a wink.

“Not long. It kind of took us both by surprise.” She clenched her hands at her sides, hoping Libby wouldn’t press her further. From the corner of her eye she saw Declan come back into the room—his presence effortlessly dominating the gathering.

Despite the way he’d treated her since Renata’s death, her gaze was continually drawn to him like metal filings to a magnet. The sensation of his lips still throbbed against her wrist. Unfortunately it was proving a great deal more difficult than she wanted to return her heartbeat to a regular rhythm. She couldn’t believe she’d agreed to go ahead with this. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the whole situation wouldn’t work. There was still too much that lay between them. Forget the frying pan. She was jumping straight into the fire.

Libby pursed her lips and let out a low whistle, “He’s welcome to take me by surprise any day of the week. No objections here, chickie!”

Gwen forced a laugh through her lips, although her face felt as if it would crack if she tried any harder. All at once the tension of the day became unbearable and exhaustion struck her in waves.

“You know, I would never have picked you for his type,” Libby continued.

Gwen felt an unexpected pang. Didn’t her friend think she was up to the job? “Really?” Her voice was glacial.

Remorse chased across Libby’s face as she realised how her words had sounded. “Oh, heck, Gwen. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it the way that came out. But you know he certainly hasn’t been short of female company in the past few years.”

“It’s okay.”

But deep inside, Libby’s words struck home. Gwen had been the antithesis of Renata—cool and controlled when her friend had been full of fire and unpredictable. Since that dreadful night, after Renata’s funeral, he’d made it clear he wanted her the hell out of his life. As time had gone by Declan had been surrounded by female admirers of all ages and marital persuasions. So why ask her when he must have any number of eager candidates to help him access his trust fund? Unless it was because he knew he’d never make the mistake of falling in love with her. Somehow, the realization only made her feel worse.

“Are you okay, Gwen? You look all done in.”

“It’s been a heck of a day. I’ll be fine after a good night’s sleep.” Gwen crossed her fingers in the wild hope that it might be so simple. “I think I’d better head off, thanks for tonight.”

“I’ll see you home.” The two women wheeled at the sound of Declan’s voice. Before she could object, they’d said their goodnights and the warm, firm pressure of his hand at the small of her back was herding her out the door and down the carpeted corridor to the elevator bank.

As soon as the elevator arrived Gwen stepped in, distancing herself from the steady warmth emanating from Declan’s body. In the aftermath of tonight it would have been so easy to simply lean back against his strength, but Gwen had learned her lesson, and learned it the hard way. She couldn’t rely on any man, especially Declan Knight.

“I have my car here, you know,” she said as she moved away from the console of push buttons, leaving him to depress the ground floor button. “I can see myself home.”

“We’ll collect it tomorrow. Besides, you’re my fiancée. People would wonder why we didn’t go home together, especially tonight.” His tone was mildly teasing, but did nothing to relax her.

The ride to the ground floor was mercifully brief. Gwen stepped into the apartment building foyer anxious to clear her lungs of the subtle, yet enticing, fragrance he wore. A scent that made her want to bury her face at the base of his throat and inhale, deeply. To stroke the hollow at the base of his neck with the tip of her tongue and see if he tasted as good as he smelled—as good as she remembered. Hold it right there! she admonished swiftly. Don’t let him invade your mind like that.

“So, where are you parked?” Her voice echoed, a brittle sound in the empty lobby.

“In the basement.”

“Then why have we stopped at the ground floor?” Gwen went to get back in the lift.

Declan hooked one arm across her shoulders and steered her to the front door. “I thought we’d both benefit from a walk along the beach.”

“It’s late,” she protested.

“Yeah, I know. And you need your beauty sleep. But you need to unwind more. C’mon, this’ll only take a few minutes. Think of it as training for when we meet up with the rest of my family.”

Smarting slightly from the beauty sleep remark, Gwen let him guide her across the road and through the grassy reserve on the other side. Once they reached the sandy width of beach she bent to slip off her shoes and suddenly wished she hadn’t. Declan loomed over her, no mean feat when she topped five ten herself.

She felt small. Feminine. Vulnerable.

Despite the activity on the sidewalk, they were alone on the beach—entirely too intimate for comfort. Gwen jogged lightly to the water’s edge, letting the iridescent foam lick over her toes and wash up to her ankles, taking refuge in the sudden chill on her heated skin. The late summer night air was gentle, laden with the combination of scents from the ocean in front of her and the restaurants that lined the road parallel to the beach. A warm breeze caressed her hair and lifted the long strands to dance flirtatiously across her cheeks and against her lips.

“What makes you think we can make this work?” she asked, her voice carrying on the night breeze. She jumped as he replied from right behind her.

“We will. We have to.”

The grim determination in his voice was daunting. He was right. Somehow, despite the past, they had to make this work. But at what price? A small rogue wave threatened to soak them both. He effortlessly swung her away, out of its path. There was that feeling again. Feminine. Vulnerable.

The breath whooshed from her lungs in a soft ‘poof’ as her breasts pressed softly against his chest and, irrationally, she wished she could be closer. Her pulse jumped like water on a hot skillet as the flats of his palms stoked across and down her long spine and over her hips. Flames of heat licked about her body where he’d touched, defying every instinctive warning in her mind. Without realising it her body melted against the hardness of his, moulding to every plane as if it belonged there even though nothing could be further from the truth.

Declan’s hands whipped to her upper arms and he set her away from him, an indistinct oath barely emerging from his mouth.

“You okay?” His voice was a rumble from deep in his throat.

“I’m fine, thank you.” She was a little breathless and a warm tide of blood had rushed to her cheeks at the sensation of his unyielding body against her softer curves. Her body had moulded to his as if they’d never been apart, as if they’d never betrayed Renata’s memory—as if they, and not he and Renata, had belonged together. She turned away and walked carefully through the soft sand. Anything to create some distance from him and the decimating memories being with him evoked.

Declan slid out of his jacket, slung it over one shoulder and walked a few silent paces beside her. “We’re marrying for the right reasons.” His voice rumbled across the night air.

“Right reasons?” Gwen was startled. To her the right reasons were love, honour and respect. But then had she had all three in the forefront of her mind when she’d agreed to marry Steve? No. Safety, security and sameness. They’d been in the forefront of her mind, and look where that had got her. An ironic burst of laughter broke from her throat. “Care to name them?”

“Respect is one.”

Her eyebrows lifted as he verbalised the one word she felt sure could never describe their relationship. “Respect? After…? No, sorry, you’ll have to try harder than that. How can you say we have respect for one another?” The word couldn’t be further from the truth—loathing on his part maybe, but respect? No way.

“I respect your professional integrity. That’s what’s important here. As for the rest, we know exactly where we stand. Both of us know it isn’t a grand passion and we know it isn’t forever. No broken promises, no broken hearts.”

Gwen caught her lip between her teeth and stared out at the lights from the naval base blinking across the harbour. The burn of bitter rejection rose from her stomach. Could she do this? Oh, God, she hoped so. She couldn’t afford not to. A sudden sheen of frustrated tears filmed Gwen’s eyes. She blinked them away, furious at herself for almost exposing such weakness. She took a deep, steadying breath, then another. Finally satisfied she had her emotions under control she faced Declan. “Yes, of course. You’re right. I’d like to go home now.”

In silence they walked back across the road and to the ramp leading to the car park. As they approached the parking area Gwen halted in her steps.

“I’ll take my own car home. Everyone saw us leave the party together so you don’t have to worry about anyone suspecting that we didn’t go home together, too.” A strong hand on her arm stopped her in her tracks.

“I said I’ll take you home and I will.”

“But it isn’t necessary. My car’s here and I’ll have to come back tomorrow to get it, anyway.”

Declan slid his arm around her waist and turned her towards where his car waited. “Don’t argue with me, Gwen. I always do what I say I’ll do. We’ll sort out your car tomorrow after we’ve seen Connor to iron out our contract.”

While his vintage sports car ate up the distance to her home Gwen’s mind raced as she mulled over the turn her life had suddenly taken. Her lips twisted ruefully—not even her mother could claim to have been engaged to two men in the same day. Okay, she decided, marrying Declan would suit her purposes—for now—and, quite clearly, would suit his also. Yes, it was cold-blooded to go into marriage like this, as if they’d brokered a deal, but once he’d uplifted his trust fund and she’d sorted out this financial mess Steve had left her in they could drift apart, and when they divorced no one would be hurt. Would they?

Sandpaper bit into her fingers as Gwen applied more pressure than was strictly necessary. One way or another she was going to make a difference to the carved mantelpiece she’d pried from her sitting room fireplace early this morning. Maybe, if she rubbed hard enough, she could erase not only the layers of paint that masked the natural native timber she hoped dwelled beneath, but also the fact her hard-won and carefully structured life had spiralled out of control.

Her stomach did an uncomfortable flip, sending a distinct reminder that skipping breakfast hadn’t been such a wonderful thing to do.

Last night hung in her memory. She’d gone over it and over it in her mind, trying to see how she could have handled things differently. How she could have said “no.” But no matter how many different scenarios she’d played, the outcome had remained the same.

During the ride to her Epsom home last night Declan had been quiet, only acknowledging her directions to find her house with the minimum of conversation. He’d seen her to the door but hadn’t lingered. Gwen had half expected him to try and kiss her goodnight—only in the interests of maintaining the closeness they were going to have to make look natural, of course—and had suffered an odd pang of disappointment when he hadn’t. A pang she certainly didn’t want to examine too closely.

With a rueful sigh Gwen set the sandpaper aside—she was doing more damage than good with it, anyway. The years of paint layered on the mantel definitely required chemical intervention. She pushed a loose strand of hair from her face. If only heavy-duty paint stripper would solve all her problems.

Gwen jumped as a shadow fell over her shoulder.

“I knocked, but you obviously didn’t hear me.”

Declan! Gwen stood abruptly, too abruptly as the blood drained from her head and grey spots danced before her eyes. She blinked to clear them and took in a deep breath. Bad move, she scolded, as the enticing fragrance of man and subtle spice enveloped her senses. The scent of him had lingered with her long after he’d seen her to her front door last night. It had plagued her as she’d tossed about in her sheets, futilely seeking the refuge of slumber.

“You’re a bit pale today,” he commented, assessing her through narrowed eyes. “Not enough sleep?”

There was nothing wrong with his complexion nor, she noted in annoyance, anything else about him. He looked enticingly debonair in a black, short-sleeved cotton shirt and charcoal-grey trousers. He’d tied his long hair back, exposing the broad plane of his forehead and the cheekbones that should have looked ridiculous on a man, yet on him just served to make him look even more compelling.

She tried to ignore the way the fabric of his shirt draped across his shoulders and over his chest. The memory of how what lay beneath that finely woven fabric felt against her was still all too vivid. A millennia could pass and she’d still know the feel of him as intimately as she knew her own body.

“I suppose you slept like a baby?” Gwen snapped in retaliation.

“I did.” His response left no doubt all was well with his world. “You’ve been busy this morning, I see.” He raised his thumb to Gwen’s cheek. “You should be wearing a mask, you know. That could be lead-based.”

Fire branded her skin at his gentle touch, and she jerked her head back. “Most of my gear is in the back of my station wagon. I take it you’re here to help me collect it?” She swiped her hands on the seat of her jeans before dusting her face, removing all remnants of the paint dust and the lingering trace of his touch.

“Later. We’re going ring-shopping first.”

“Ring-shopping?” Gwen took a step back. “Whatever for?”

“Our engagement, perhaps?” Declan raised one eyebrow.

“I don’t need a ring.” She had agreed with Steve a ring was an unnecessary purchase even though in her heart of hearts she would have enjoyed the possessive declaration of promise wearing his ring would have given her.

“Need doesn’t come into it. We have to make this look believable and we don’t have a lot of time. I’m buying you a ring. Why don’t you go and get changed? Unless, of course, you’d prefer to go like that?” He gestured at her paint-stained shirt and faded jeans.

An imp of perversity almost induced her to insist on going in her work clothes. If she truly thought it would bother him, she would have done it. However, Declan didn’t look at all perturbed by the idea. His attention had been grabbed by her current project.

“You’re doing a good job on this mantelpiece. Are you going to brush paint stripper into these carvings?”

“Eventually. The stripper’s in the back of my car.” Gwen’s lips thinned. If he hadn’t insisted on bringing her home last night she could’ve made greater inroads on the mantel than she’d managed thus far.

“We can swing by Libby’s and pick it up after we’ve been shopping. I’ll follow you back and give you a hand if you like.” He glanced at his watch. “We’d better hit the road. The jeweller doesn’t usually open on a Saturday and he’s making an exception for us today.”

Give her a hand? Gwen reassessed his muscled shoulders. She may as well resign herself to the fact he was going to be around and put him to good use. There was nothing distinctly romantic about renovation. So far, and with little help from Steve, who’d preferred to keep his apartment when they’d become engaged, it had been sheer hard graft. Besides, she reasoned, it would serve to desensitise her to the crazy lurch she felt deep inside every time Declan came within three feet of her.

Gwen’s stomach growled, loud enough to tease another half smile from Declan’s lips.

“Maybe I should feed you first?”

“I’m fine,” she retorted. “I’ll be ready in five minutes.”

After choosing and discarding at least six different outfits, she was ready in fourteen.

“Let’s get this over with.” She slung her bag over her shoulder and reached up to twist her hair into a silver clip. Dressed in shades of lavender and deep plum Gwen knew, aside from the shadows under her eyes even concealer couldn’t hide, she looked good. And for reasons she didn’t want to examine too deeply, it was important that she did.

“You make it sound like pulling teeth would be more fun.” Declan pulled his keys from his pocket but didn’t make any move to leave.

“You said it, not me.”

“Why are you so angry?” He barred the doorway with one arm, effectively preventing her from avoiding the question. “It’s only a ring.”

“Shall we go?” Gwen gave him a pointed stare before ducking under his arm and taking swift steps down the hall to the front door.

“Okay, so you don’t want to talk about it.” Declan followed with a measured tread. “You know, it would make things easier if you’d relax a little.”

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